Skills

A new Norwegian science study reports that young people aged 9 to 18 are increasingly turning to AI chatbots instead of Google for information and everyday questions. Researchers say the shift is happening quickly and its consequences for how children learn, judge sources and develop search skills are not yet understood, prompting calls for closer attention from educators and parents.

The use of robots in therapy for autistic children is being scrutinised in a new discussion about its ethical implications. Critics are asking whether robotic interventions genuinely help children develop social skills, or whether they risk replacing human contact and raising questions about consent, dependency and the commercialisation of care. The debate reflects growing attention to how assistive technology should be used with vulnerable groups.

Wired reports on a new wave of AI research that trains models on how real people play video games, including their mistakes and sloppy habits, rather than only on expert or scripted play. The idea is that human error contains useful data for teaching AI systems to behave more naturally. The piece is being shared and discussed in tech and gaming circles.

Fourteen Taiwanese technology companies, led by TSMC and backed by the National Development Council, held a recruitment campaign at the annual Taiwan Tech Summit in Silicon Valley over the weekend, offering more than 1,000 jobs. The drive reflects Taiwan's effort to attract overseas engineering talent amid a global race for semiconductor and tech skills.

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has dismissed concerns that widespread use of AI tools is eroding people's skills, arguing that AI should be treated as a tool that augments workers rather than replaces their abilities. His remarks come amid ongoing debate in the tech industry about whether reliance on AI systems, from coding assistants to chatbots, is weakening critical thinking and expertise among workers and students.

With demand for traditional software coding roles cooling, computer science graduates are increasingly concentrating on artificial intelligence skills to stay competitive in the job market. Employers and educators are shifting expectations, and new grads are adapting their training toward AI and machine learning expertise as the once-booming programming job market slows.

Some members of Gen Z are deliberately relearning touch typing, a skill skipped by many who grew up on phones and tablets. They say faster, more accurate typing helps them write better prompts for AI chatbots and gives them an edge in office jobs where quick keyboard work still matters. The trend highlights a gap between mobile-first digital natives and the keyboard-heavy demands of professional work.

Education experts are cautioning that students may be leaning too heavily on artificial intelligence tools, raising concerns about weakened critical thinking, reduced writing skills, and academic integrity. The warning, reported by Gulf Times, adds to a growing debate among teachers and researchers worldwide about how AI should be used in classrooms and how schools can balance its benefits with the risks to genuine learning.

Educators are arguing that in an era of instant answers from search engines and AI tools, children benefit from being allowed to grapple with problems before getting help. Supporters say productive struggle builds persistence, problem-solving skills and resilience, countering a culture of quick solutions. The argument has struck a chord with teachers and parents reconsidering how much help to give students.

Google is phasing out its custom Gemini chatbots known as Gems and migrating their functionality into a new feature called Skills. The change means users will have to adapt as existing Gems are transitioned automatically. German tech coverage notes the move as Google continuing to reshape its Gemini assistant platform.

A new report examines how artificial intelligence is being integrated into higher education, weighing its benefits against the risk of eroding students' critical thinking skills. It pairs industry statistics with analysis of how universities can adopt AI tools while preserving independent reasoning, academic integrity and rigorous assessment standards.

OpenAI has published guidance identifying the workplace skills it considers most valuable in the AI era. The company's findings are drawing attention from businesses and workers assessing how artificial intelligence is reshaping job requirements, with details of the report carried by Business Insider.

Sakana AI has introduced SAIL, a research project on scaling in-context imitation learning, aimed at teaching robotic systems new skills by letting them learn from demonstrations within context rather than through task-specific retraining. The announcement is drawing attention from robotics and AI researchers interested in whether scaling in-context learning can improve general-purpose robot behavior.

A British startup is turning video game controller inputs into training data for AI models designed to navigate the physical world. The idea is that human gameplay, including mistakes and clumsy manoeuvring, offers rich examples of how people learn to control complex systems, which could help robots and other embodied AI improve. The approach is drawing attention as a cheaper alternative to real-world data collection.

Adform says AI assistants can now access 800 of its advertising platform's capabilities. Buyers using its FLOW platform received 29 read-only skills in July, while Dell and Publicis Groupe tested the wider server at Cannes. Industry observers are asking whether these agents can actively change live campaigns or only read data, a key question for how much control advertisers will hand over to AI.

Light Origins has introduced Light-O1, a foundation model designed for robot learning. The company says the model is intended to help robots acquire general-purpose skills rather than being trained for single tasks. Details beyond the launch announcement remain limited, and independent assessments of the model's capabilities have not yet been published.

Qatar Red Crescent Society, together with the Geneva Centre of Humanitarian Studies, has concluded a workshop on health humanitarian diplomacy. The training brought participants together to build skills in negotiating and coordinating health assistance in humanitarian settings. The two organisations have collaborated on capacity-building programmes, and the conclusion marks the end of the latest edition of this joint initiative.

The Los Angeles Clippers have reportedly brought back a 6-foot-3 guard described as highly skilled, parting ways with a former Philadelphia 76ers stretch big man to make room on the roster. The move gives the Clippers backcourt depth as they continue reshaping their rotation ahead of upcoming games.

Nalin Haley has demanded an end to the H-1B visa programme and to legal immigration, using the slogan 'America for Americans'. The appeal from a figure in the immigration debate has drawn attention given its sweeping scope, targeting not just irregular migration but skilled-worker visas long defended by business interests. Critics see the position as an extreme stance in the ongoing US fight over immigration policy.

The term refers to the US diversity visa lottery, the program that randomly awards green cards to applicants from countries with low immigration rates, as well as to the annual H-1B visa lottery that skilled workers enter hoping to work in the United States. Discussion on Hacker News, linked to academic research on immigration restrictions and firms, reflects debate about how lotteries affect workers and companies. Posts appear to mix personal anecdotes with policy discussion, though the exact trigger is not clear from the evidence.